Posted on 09/02/2007 8:59:19 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
Police can shoot children with stun guns
By STEPHEN WRIGHT
Last updated at 23:55pm on 2nd September 2007
Police will be allowed to shoot children with Taser stun guns despite concerns they could trigger heart attacks.
Officers in ten forces will be able to use the 50,000-volt weapons - which paralyse targets for a short time - against all potentially violent offenders.
However campaigners have called for police to be banned from using Tasers on children.
The Defence Scientific Advisory Council medical committee told the Home Office that not enough was known about the risks of using Tasers against youngsters.
The committee said research suggests there was a risk children could suffer a "serious cardiac event".
It recommended that officers should be "particularly vigilant" for any health problems suffered as a direct result of someone being shot with a Taser.
And it added that guidelines should be updated to highlight the risks to children and "adults of small stature".
Amnesty International claims Tasers have been responsible for 220 deaths in America since 2001.
Many cities in the U.S. have banned their use against minors. In Britain, fears have been raised that the one-year trial could compromise public safety if it is not carefully handled.
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Nick Clegg said the pilot projects had to be conducted with "great caution and rigour".
The Association of Chief Police Officers said Tasers would be made available at incidents of "violence and threats of violence of such severity that they will need force".
The Tasers fire barbed darts into their victims and deliver powerful electric shocks via a copper wire. They are intended to be a 'less lethal' alternative to regular police weapons.
They were first introduced in the UK in 2003 and have been deployed several dozen times.
Police Minister Tony McNulty failed to mention that Government advisors had warned of a potential risk to children.
But he confirmed that medical assessments had confirmed the risk of death or serious injury from Tasers was 'low'. The Home Office stressed that nonfirearms officers will not be routinely armed with Tasers.
Instead the weapons will be "readily available" for specific incidents of violence where force may be needed by police.
Officers taking part in the 12-month pilot scheme will undergo a rigorous selection procedure and will have to undergo a training programme approved by the Association of Chief Police Officers.
Yeah, but can the Bobbies shoot Islamofascist terrorists engaged in blowing up a bus or subway?
Beat on the brat
Beat on the brat
Beat on the brat with a baseball bat
Oh yeah, oh yeah, uh-oh.
What can you do?
What can you do?
With a brat like that always on your back
What can you do?
- The Ramones
....yeah...and the “children” will shoot back with firearms.
A smaller version for parents to use, especially for the dads, would sure make parenting easier.
Aim small...Miss small.
Oh, that’ll improve their thinking.
The voltage is a scary sounding, but meaningless statistic.
Every day, thousands of kids zap each other with 20,000 volts of static electricity — from scuffing across the floor.
Exactly. The X26 Taser voltage actually drops to somewhere around 1500 volts on contact. I believe the amperage is somewhere around 2 miliamps
yup, I’d prefer they use the regular guns on them and scare them early. (Yes i know they don’t have guns) /s
Anything from Amnesty International is suspect.
I wanted to say something similar but I thought it might be taken the wrong way, lol. Get out of the frige...bizzzzzz. oh that would be nice.
“Get out of the frige...bizzzzzz. oh that would be nice.”
Exactly, by the way if you still want to see if you can draw heat, make a crack about using it on your old lady when she gets uppity.
Nah, never that. I taught her how to shoot, shes almost as good as me, that and I’m a very sound sleeper. lol
UK has guns?
‘UK has guns?’
It must have - I live in the UK and own three guns.
Still there is a risk of death. Tasers do not constitute the use of non-lethal force.
“Id prefer they use the regular guns on them and scare them early. (Yes i know they dont have guns)”
Some of them do have guns. About 10% of the London force, for example.
What make and model and where can you use them and on what?
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